A six-day subrenal capsule assay for predictive testing of primary human tumors

We carried out a total of 36 in vivo chemosensitivity tests in 33 cases of human malignant tumor using the subrenal capsule assay, developed by A.E. Bogden et al. Of the 36 assays, 31 were evaluable. The chemosensitivity of each tumor varied individually. UFT, 5-fluorouracil, mitomycin-C and adriamycin were administered to gastrointestinal cancer patients regularly, but our SRC-assay showed a high sensitivity rate for UFT and 5-fluorouracil but a low sensitivity rate for mitomycin-C and adriamycin. Nine patients had clinically evaluable lesions and a correlation between the assay results and clinical response existed in 6 cases. The true positive rate was 50% (3/6), the true negative rate 100% (3/3), and the overall predictive accuracy 66% (6/9). This study suggested that 6-day SRC assay is useful for selecting effective anti-tumor agents for the treatment of cancer patients.